CHENNAI: Alleging mismatch and discrepancies in the counts of votes recorded in the VVPAT, control unit and ballot units, and technical faults in the EVMs during checking left unaddressed by the authorities, DMK president MK Stalin has filed an election petition in the Madras High Court seeking to declare the victory of TVK MLA VS Babu in Kolathur constituency as null and void.
The former Chief Minister sought the court to issue orders to the concerned poll officials for conducting 100% counting of the VVPATs and checking and verification of all the 286 electronic voting machines used in the constituency within a timeframe.
He stated that the checking and verification of the VVPATs and EVMs of polling stations 1, 4, 17, 28, 32, 75, 78, 79, 84, 87, 112, 122, 157 and 170 commenced on July 29 after a delay of nearly three months from the date of the application, which was submitted on May 7, 2026.
During verification, one VVPAT each of polling stations 28 and 75 stopped functioning, and the cause of the technical fault was not duly furnished. The location of VVPAT-printed slips for 14 polling stations is not known, he said in the petition.
Stalin said that two ballot units did not tally with the address tags of polling station 79. An alarming irregularity came to light when the EVM of polling station 208 was taken up for checking. The first ballot unit, which had the name of Stalin printed on it, was not detected by the control unit.
Without responding to or addressing such technical glitches, the district election officer declared that the checking and verification was successfully carried out, he said, adding that his authorised signatory, advocate NR Elango, refused to accept the decision.
He said the impugned order was passed arbitrarily and wholly without any reason, in a mechanical manner, and was opposed to the principles of natural justice since an opportunity of hearing was not provided to him or his authorised agent.
Referring to the failure of the control unit to detect the ballot unit which carried his name, Stalin said it raises the question as to how many more such control units exist and how many such ballot units have gone unaccounted for.
“The district election officer neither furnished any reasoning or explanation whatsoever for this lapse nor placed on record the technical reports by the engineers of BEL. This renders a process intended to enhance transparency wholly opaque and nugatory,” Stalin said in the petition.
He alleged that the decision of the district election officer was arbitrary, against the principles of natural justice, and not in compliance with the standard operating procedure and the obligation of transparency.
Stating that there were defects, failures and breaches of the chain of custody of the electronic machines at polling stations 28, 75, 79, 157 and 208, Stalin noted that his vote share at these stations was 29.87%, whereas the remaining 281 stations recorded 40.74%.
